On Thursday, the GBP/USD currency pair pulled back from the session highs of about 1.3442 to trade at about 1.3389. The currency pair trades within a descending channel formation in the 60-minute chart.

The pair has now fallen to trade a few levels below the 100-hour moving average line. However, the currency pair bounced back later to recover from the oversold levels of the 14-hour RSI.

GBP/USD Fundamentals Overview

From a fundamental perspective, the GBP/USD currency pair trades during a relatively busy period in both markets. On Thursday, the UK’s gross domestic product for November outperformed the expected (MoM) change of 0.1%, with a change of 0.3%.

The industrial production for the month also exceeded the forecast of 0.1%, with a change of 1.1% (MoM), while Manufacturing production beat the expected (MoM) change of 0.5%, with a change of 2.1%. Earlier in the week, the BRC Like-for-Like sales for December also came in stronger than expected, with a (YoY) change of 1%, versus a forecast of 0.6%.

In the U.S., the initial jobless claims for last week fell to 198k, down from the previous week’s claim count of 207k, beating the forecast of 215k. The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index for January also came in stronger than expected, with 7.7 versus a forecast of 1, while the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing Survey for the month beat -2, with a reading of 12.6.

Earlier in the week, US retail sales for November exceeded the (MoM) forecast of 0.4%, with a change of 0.6%. The retail sales ex-autos also beat the expectation of 0.4%, with a change of 0.5%  (MoM).

GBP/USD Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)

Technically, the GBP/USD currency pair trades within a descending channel formation in the 60-minute chart. However, the 14-hour RSI bounced back later to recover from oversold conditions.

Therefore, the bulls will look to extend the current rebound towards 1.3442 or higher to 1.3494. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on profits at about 1.3333 or lower at 1.3281.

GBP/USD Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the GBP/USD currency pair is about to complete a downward breakout from an ascending channel formation. However, the 14-day RSI still has room left to run before reaching oversold conditions.

Therefore, the bears will look to stretch the latest pullback towards 1.3208 or lower to 1.3013. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on profits at about 1.3571 or higher at 1.3758.